Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Good News and I Need Help

I apologize for being remiss about posting on Andi's behalf. But when you find out the reason, I'm sure you will forgive me. I've been scrambling like mad to finish Book 4 [Shadows from the Past, but that title might not stand]. It's kind of long.

Last week I received an email from my editor at Kregel. He wanted to know if I could turn in the manuscript early, so the book can come out early (instead of February 2017).

Of course I said "yes," so now Book 4 will come out late next FALL 2016 rather than Winter 2017 (three whole months early). Since Book 3 comes out in two months, it won't be such a wait for everyone.

I will turn in the finished manuscript January 4, and soon afterward, I'll be bombarded with a marketing questionnaire which asks, among other things, title suggestions. I gave them my title awhile ago to possibly put into the back of Book 3, but they used "Watch for Book 4" instead of my title. Yeah, that's a hint they might not go for it. So, I need other suggestions. Help!

Since it is impossible to think of a title to a book you know nothing about, I have put together a brief summary. I don't know if it will help or not, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind learning what Book 4 is about, right?

I would appreciate any and all title suggestions for the new book. I know the summary is not much to go on, but you are all very good at thinking up titles, like for the contest books! (I think somebody suggested "Circle C Steppingstones" for the new series. I plan on pitching that series title. If you are the "owner" of that suggestion, please speak up so I can thank you if Kregel uses it.)

Anyway, here is the 40-word summary and then the longer synopsis. Good luck and thanks for anything you can come up with!

1. 40-word "nutshell summary"

A series of unexplained
attacks against the Circle C ranch forces Andi’s family into the realization
that escaped prisoners have revenge on their minds and intend to make the
Carter family pay for past wrongs.

2. Synopsis

Nothing gives Andrea
Carter greater joy than to know she’s pulling her own weight on the Circle C
ranch. Unless it’s racing Shasta or learning to stunt ride with the help of her
brother Chad’s new wrangler, Riley Prescott. After an afternoon of riding practice,
complete with a humiliating spill, the two head home. They quickly stumble onto
a mysterious cut in the fence surrounding brother Mitch’s special breed of
calves.

And that’s only the
beginning . . .

A cryptic warning follows,
delivered via brick through the plate-glass window in town, where Chad’s engagement
party is in full swing. Then cattle begin to sicken and die, and the horse barn
catches fire. Who are these mischief makers, and why have they targeted Andi’s
family?

When evidence points to escaped
prisoners whom big brother Justin prosecuted years ago for robbery and murder,
none of the Carters feel safe. Andi offers to stay in town with Justin’s family
while he’s away. Little does she realize they are being watched.

A few days later Andi,
Justin’s wife, Lucy, and baby Samuel are kidnapped as part of the outlaws’
plans for revenge. As Andi and her family are carried far away from ​everything
they know, her hopes are pinned on Riley—the last person to see them before
they were taken. Can Riley find Andi before she disappears out of his reach?

Here are several title ideas:Lurking ShadowsDanger ValleyForgotten PastDanger CornerPathway to PerilSunlight and Shadows (This one just kind of popped into my head. It's kind of random :P)Past Times and Present Danger (or just Past and Present Danger. Those are probably too long, though)

That's all I have for now! I'm super excited to read the last two books!

Get a Head Start!

About Andi

I'm the main character in 4 book series: Circle C Beginnings, Circle C Stepping Stones, Circle C Adventures, and Circle C Milestones. I live on a huge cattle and horse ranch in 1880 California. These are my adventures.